The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life

We draw upon the close of one year and anticipate the new. This seems to be what we do annually this time of year. Many of us begin a list shortly after Christmas of possible resolutions we will embark upon come January 1. How many have considered incorporating the rhythm of the Church into their lives? Kendra Tierney has the written the perfect book that allows us to do just that. The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life is an excellent resource for drawing families more profoundly into their faith throughout the year.

Kendra has discovered the benefits of incorporating the rich traditions of the Catholic Church’s liturgical year into her own family life. Though no expert, she openly admits there is some tweaking and experimentation in her methods, she has outlined what has worked for her and shared it in this book. The key to the book is this…..experiment. Figure out what works for your family. Add a few things each year, and over time you will find your family has become a more fully involved and more fully aware of the seasons of the Church.

As Kendra states it, “You do not have to do everything in this book. Our family doesn’t do everything in this book every year. And we certainly didn’t do it all in the beginning. Start slowly. Add one observance at a time. If you love it, do it again next year. If you just don’t love it, wait a couple years and try again. Or just chuck it entirely.”

This is really the key. Start slow, start small, just start! Kendra provides a good game plan going in with a few easy practices to employ. Observe baptismal days of family members. Choose a patron saint for each family member, learn about them, and celebrate their feast day. Pick up the traditional observation of Friday as a day of sacrifice and Sunday as a day of celebration. Observe the universal calendars solemnity days in your home in some special way. Once these are added to your annual observations you can expand or simply go with this list.

Do yourself a favor this year. Make a resolution with life-changing potential. Clear some space you’re your planner and integrate the church liturgical calendar with your daily schedule. It’s really not that hard and the effort is worth it. Kendra has done a marvelous job creating the roadmap. We just need to follow it.